Protein degradation is an essential mechanism for the maintenance of cellular homeostasis, in which excess or aberrant proteins are eliminated from the cell. In eukaryotes, conjugation of target proteins to ubiquitin is an essential step in the proteasome-dependent degradation process and is mediated by a family of ubiquitin conjugating enzymes (UBC). Several of these have been identified in a variety of organisms.
The ubiquitin-conjugating enzymes (UBE2s) are a family of proteins involved in the ubiquitin-dependent protein degradation system. In yeast, at least 10 different E2s have been identified; they are involved in essential cellular processes such as DNA repair, cell cycle control, and stress responses.
A 1080 bp nucleotide sequence obtained from murine ES cells cDNA, RIKEN full-length enriched library, clone: C330020M11, a HSPC150-like protein similar to UBE2, has been deposited in GenBank (Accession: AK021213; GI: 12862027).
Given the importance of UBCs, a clear need exists for the elucidation of their functions, which information can be used in preventing, ameliorating or correcting dysfunctions or diseases associated therewith.